Guiting-guiting Expedition Day 7 - The Glorious Day

I woke up with the sound of Ram-mon cooking breakfast. The crisp morning air greeted us with a promise that this would be a fine day.

Moonset at daybreak. Not a cloud in sight

 Everything can be seen clearly at daybreak. Mt. Guiting-guiting was devoid of any cloud cover, as was Mayo's peak, and the rest of the mountain, for that matter. But deep inside I knew that this was just a trick to lull us into slowing things down and enjoy the sunrise that was displaying a slew of colors in the east.

Actual sunrise!!!

Guiting-guiting Exploration Day 6 - There's a Calm Before the Storm

ABC - Another near-sleepless night. Though the LPA kept on raging past midnight, it was the hard bumpy "bed" that kept me tossing and turning. There's that feeling that I'm being hit by a gigantic boxing glove in full force but in slow motion. Why the hell did I leave my inflatable pad at home?

Adrian and Neil couldn't wait to get packed and head down to Kabit-tubi, where the conditions are a lot drier and there's more room to move (without getting hammered by the rain). They almost skipped breakfast had we not insisted they eat something before they leave. (I also made sure I got the last drop of Neil's powerbank to recharge my phone)

Raring to go

News from the other teams came around 7 am. Ram-mon is going up with the guides before lunch, bringing additional supplies and water. On the other side, Punks told us Drei and Twylah left for their summit push with Bermar (Toto). It appears that the conditions at Mayo's was improving.

Bunny called us to go out and see the sky clearing up a bit. After two days of whiteout conditions, our hearts got cheered up by the sight of the sea of clouds below us and the pointy outline of Mt. Guiting-guiting. 

Bunny calling Punks on the radio

As if to call the weather's bluff, Bunny kept singing "someone told me long ago there's a calm before the storm..." ("Have you ever seen the rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival).

I felt bad for Adrian and Neil. The whole time they were up here, they saw nothing but clouds and a wet campsite. An hour to their descent, the clouds parted and the sun almost made an appearance. Perhaps there's some truth in their weather jinx?

Guiting-guiting Expedition Day 4 - Weather-weather Lang

Levi recalled something Isong said yesterday afternoon, as we were enjoying the sight of the rainbow:

Isong: Sabi ng matatanda sa amin noon. Kapag may lumalabas na ganyan (rainbow) sa hapon, masama ang panahon kinabukasan.

Levi smiled politely, thinking to himself: Diba dapat maganda ang panahon? Kasi yun yung promise kay Noah? (then decided not to pursue the issue).

Late last night it started to rain. It was different from the drizzle the night before. This was a legitimate rain shower. It rained again after breakfast, and it appeared no to be ending anytime soon. Manong Isong was right.

We've been monitoring the weather even before we left Quezon City. By the time we got to Sibuyan, tropical storm Peipah (Domeng) has fizzled out into a low pressure area. The problem is ex-storm Domeng decided to linger in the eastern Visayas, remaining almost stationary in the past few days, then decided to inch northward before heading west. We're smack in the middle of its path.

storm trajectory (www.weather.com.ph)